


Wondering in Underland

by FrenchKey



Series: Stony Fairy Tale Bingo 2018 [2]
Category: Alice in Wonderland (Movies - Burton), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fairy Tale, Crossover, Fairy Tale Elements, Fluff, M/M, Mentions of Blood, Stony Fairy Tale Bingo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-22
Updated: 2018-03-22
Packaged: 2019-04-05 06:12:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,118
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14037912
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FrenchKey/pseuds/FrenchKey
Summary: After he's slain the Jabberwocky, Steve has a choice to make. Will he go home or stay with his beloved in Underland?





	Wondering in Underland

**Author's Note:**

> This is my fill for T5 - Alice in Wonderland on my Stony Fairy Tale Bingo card. It's based on the Tim Burton film and picks up towards the end of it. It might not make a whole lot of sense if you haven't seen the film.
> 
> Thank you so much to the fabulous [ 3490nat](http://3490nat.tumblr.com) for a lightning fast and very thorough beta. Apologies for the comma situation...
> 
> I hope you enjoy the fic!

Steve stood, blood dripping from the Vorpal blade and landing with sickly splats at his feet. He swayed lightly in place and suddenly Tony was behind him, holding him up. His hat was askew and his hair even more of a mess than normal, but he was alive and here. Steve let out a relieved breath and sagged against him. He let the sword drop to the ground with a resounding clang.

‘Careful there, Sugarplum. These toes are important, you know. Can’t Futterwacken without my toes.’

‘Tony, shhhh,’ Steve muttered.

‘Shhhing now,’ he replied, snaking an arm up around Steve’s shoulder and holding him in place.

Queen Natasha was examining the body of the fallen Jabberwocky. Steve couldn’t see exactly what she was doing, but it involved vials and sparks. He looked away and leaned into Tony’s embrace. He was exhausted. In some ways, he couldn’t believe it had only been a couple of days since he fell through the rabbit hole in his uncle’s garden and landed in Underland. Something about the potions he’d taken to restore himself to his ordinary size, or maybe it was just something about Underland itself, had removed his ailments. For the first time in his life, he’d been able to run and fight and laugh without losing his breath and collapsing. It was incredibly freeing. Now though, he just wanted to collapse into a bed and sleep for a while. 

The Queen appeared at his side and thrust a vial under his nose. It was filled with a thick green sludge and was emitting clouds of grey smoke. Steve looked at it dubiously. 

‘Drink,’ she said, handing the potion to him.

‘What does it do?’ Steve asked.

‘It is your only chance to return home to your own life. There is only one Jabberwocky. I will never again be able to get the blood needed for the potion to succeed. You must drink it now, or you will be trapped here,’ she told him.

Steve looked at the vial. Tony’s arms tightened around him and then released him slowly. Steve watched as he walked away. Bucky stalked over and plonked down at Steve’s feet. His eyes gleamed and his smile stretched wide. Steve shivered.

‘Don’t you leave without sayin’ goodbye to him, Punk,’ the cat warned.

Steve handed the vial back to Queen Natasha.

‘I don’t intend to leave at all, Jerk,’ he replied. 

***

Steve lay in bed, stretched out on his stomach. He was in that lovely fuzzy place between being awake and being asleep. Tony was curled next to him, absently running his fingers up and down Steve’s spine. He purred and nuzzled at Tony’s hip.

‘Whassup? Can hear you thinking from here,’ Steve mumbled.

‘I was just allowing my brain to wander along the paths of wondering,’ Tony replied.

‘And in normal-person?’ Steve asked.

‘I was wondering about something,’ Tony said with a put-upon sigh. 

‘Hmm?’ Steve asked.

Tony bounced up off the bed and Steve resigned himself to being awake for the day. He followed his hyperactive lover through to the kitchen and began preparing the kettle for their morning tea. Tony bounced around the room, upsetting dishes and generally causing chaos. As he passed by, Steve grabbed him around the waist and held him.

‘Tony, stop,’ he said.

‘Stopping,’ Tony muttered.

Tony eeled out of Steve’s grip and twisted so that he ended up flopped gently against Steve’s back. He lay there, arms curled around his partner’s waist. Steve gently stroked the back of one hand as he prepared the tea. He gently removed the sleeping Rhodey from the teapot and placed him in the milk jug instead. Forgetting to keep an eye out for the tiny dormouse was a mistake you only made once. 

‘What’re you wondering about, love?’ Steve asked.

‘Why did you stay?’ Tony burst out. ‘I still don’t even understand why you stayed and fought in the first place! We weren’t important to you. Underland’s fate had nothing to do with you, but you still saved us all and I don’t understand why. And- and then! You were offered a way home and you turned it down! Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad and I love you, but I don’t understand why. You kept talking about how you didn’t belong here and then you stayed and… just, why?’

Steve sighed. He’d wondered if this would come up. Much as he loved his mad hatter, Tony wasn’t always very good at the self-esteem thing. Steve wasn’t sure why and he’d not been brave enough to ask yet. In some ways he could relate. He stroked Tony’s arm.

‘Honey, you have to realise that I didn’t belong here when I arrived. I’m not from Underland. But, I didn’t belong where I was either. I was tiny and sickly and no one was ever going to want to marry me.’

A cough that sounded very much like ‘idiots’ came from behind him. Steve smiled.

‘Be that as it may, getting married was the only useful thing I could do for the family. I couldn’t go into business and I was going to die young. If I married well, to the daughter of another businessman I could enhance our prospects and our fortunes that way. I didn’t want that. The family despaired of me.’

Tony wriggled around until he was pressed up against Steve’s front and rubbed the top of his head against Steve’s chin. Steve pressed a gentle kiss against Tony’s hair.

‘And then I ended up here, with you. It was weird and strange and nothing made sense, but I was healthy and people listened to me when I said I didn’t want to do something. None of you tried to force me to fight the Jabberwocky. You just asked nicely. And you talked to me like I was a real person and listened to me. You flirted with me. No one had ever done that before. At least, no one I was interested in flirting with. There was nothing for me where I came from. Just a life I hated and an early grave. Here, well, I’ve got you and our whole life in front of me. Of course I stayed. It wasn’t even a choice.’

Tony was shaking against Steve. He looked down, concerned, to find Tony staring back up at him with watery eyes, leaking tears down his cheeks. Steve thought it probably made him a very bad man that this just made Tony more attractive than ever. He leaned down and pressed his lips to Tony’s cheek. Tony’s breath hitched.

‘You mean, you stayed for me?’ Tony asked.

‘Of course I did, sweetheart. I wouldn’t have stayed for anyone else.’


End file.
